Search - Verdi - Nabucco / Muti, Bruson, Dimitrova, Burchuladze, Becaria, Pierotti, La Scala on DVD

The Ultimate Stage Nabucco

Rudy Avila | Lennox, Ca United States | 11/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1987 performance of a La Scala production of Verdi's Nabucco is stunning and powerfully rendered. A superior Nabucco you are hard-pressed to find. This production stars Renato Bruson as the titular Babylonian tyrant, Ghena Dimitrova as the wicked Abigaille, Becaria in the tenor role of Ismaele, Pierotti as Ferena and Burchuladze as the Zaccaria the Priest. La Scala opera productions are top-notch, and the singers, even if some of them are not well-known, are of the highest calibre. Of the entire cast, only baritone Renato Bruson and soprano Ghena Dimitrova stand out as well-known singers. Bruson's power lies in the combination of a dramatic and rich, full Verdi voice as well as his portrayal as Nebuchednezzar. His facial expressions are intense and stern, his costume befits the character well: a silvery armor with helmet. He is fierce, proud, haughty and vainglorious. In the scene after he is struck by God's lightning for assuming he had become God, he has a dramatically rendered Mad Scene. In the last Act, when he finally admits to being a mere mortal and repents, we SYMPATHIZE with him. After his aria, we are moved. I was. And in that final scene when he leads the ensemble in "Immenso Jehovah" after destroying a statue of Baal, the opera reaches a powerfully emotional climax. As the opera's hero, Renato Bruson pulls all the stops and sings the role with more dramatic integrity and more beautiful voice than any baritone I've heard.

Ghena Dimitrova's Abigaille is another attraction. Her voice is supremely powerful, and the fiendishly high tessitura of the role is a piece of cake for her. This was her signature role. She is an imperious, vindictive and completely evil Abigaille, the adopted daughter of Nabucco who was born a slave. Her rival, the other daughter of Nabucco, is sung by mezzo Pierotti with great bravura and touching pathos. I didn't care for the tenor Becaria in the role and would have preferred Placido Domingo in the role, for his richly layered voice would have made his minor character far more developed. One review mentioned how the women's costumes were hideous. I disagree. Ghena Dimitrova looks wonderful in the costumes. When she enters with her entourage of armed men, clad in a midnight blue armor, flowing cape and helmet, she looks almost like a Valkyrie in Wagner's Die Walkure. The mezzo singing Ferena looks like a fairy-tale princess, a vision of purity in a white veil and gauzy white gown, studded with tiny crystals. All the costumes are terrific and this is the most gorgeous-looking Nabucco I've ever seen. Babylon looks like a mythical, exotic land, at times resembling Atlantis, as in Act 3. When Abigaille becomes Queen, her Throne Room is grandiose and decorated with images of mermaids, fish, and the Zodiac sign. In the duet with Nabucco, the backdrop contains a tunnel where a light shines through and in the highest part we see cherubs and in the lower portions we see Assyrian animal and human figures. The contrast between the white robes of the Hebrew priests and veiled women in white and the dark or midnight blue armor of the pagan Assyrians is a great touch, evoking good versus evil. On DVD, it's a must have. I love all of Act 2 and 3. Ricardo Muti conducts with aplomb, really immersed in the music and making grandiose Karajan-like or Toscanini like gestures."